New Desk

We finally move into our own place in 3 days!  Needless to say I am beyond excited!  After living with parents for the past 5 months we are beyond excited to finally have a place of our own!

Our new little townhouse has two bedrooms; one for us, and one for guests.  The guest bedroom is fairly small, so there is no way that we can fit a full size bed, and both of our desks in it.  So, of course, I came up with another solution.  Tad will claim the guest bedroom as his own.  I have even made some super cute Star Wars prints to hang on the wall for him.  My little craft haven will be in the downstairs closet.  It's probably best this way.  With all his computer gaming I would never be able to get any crafting done with him yelling at a computer 3 ft. away.

So I set off to build a desk to fit in one of the downstairs closets.

This is a photo from the model apartment, we haven't had a chance to get into the actual apartment yet because there were still people living in it when we put our deposit down.  This is also the upgraded apartment.  We chose to not pay for an upgrade apartment.  I was not about to pay $300+ more a month for new cabinet and closet doors...literally the only things that were different.  The doors on this closet in our apt are natural wood and we will be taking them down to put my desk in.

Since I needed a desk to fit in here, I needed very specific dimensions. 60in x 30in.  I thought these were unusual dimensions, and we  didn't want to spend a lot of money on this, so off to Lowes we went.  I decided to use galvanized piping for the legs of the desk, and then attach the pipes to a piece of counter top.  This allowed us to build something that would specific fit the dimensions we needed. However, after a trip to Lowes and adding everything up we would be spending about $150 to build this.  At that rate we might as well just buy a desk.  We left with nothing but disappointment.

On the way home we stopped at a local resale shop to check if they had any nightstands, and there it was.  The most perfect crafting desk, with drawers, and a file cabinet and it was 60in x 30in.  The best part, it was $30!

So we loaded it up in the Jeep and home it went!  I figured with a couple coats of paint and some cleaning I could transform this into the perfect craft desk!

Now this thing was NASTY!  I started cleaning by pulling out all the drawers and taking off all the hardware.  I wiped everything down with Better Life's Whatever spray cleaner.  I love this company because they use all natural, non-toxic ingredients that are safe for your family and the environment.

After wiping it down  I used a Magic Eraser to clean off all of the stains and smudges and grease that just wiping it down would't get.  It took 4, yes 4, Magic Erasers to clean this thing, that is how nasty it was.

After cleaning it was time to prime and paint it.  I used Valspar spray paint to paint and prime it.  Make sure to get metal spray paint!

Of course it had to be pink.

Then I primed and painted all the drawers.

  

Vader was very curious about the whole process.

Then I primed the rest of the desk and decided to keep that part white and not paint it pink. (Tad's suggestion and It really looks much better this way)

I soaked the hardware in a bowl of vinegar and then cleaned it with dish soap before reattaching it.

We slid the drawers back in and reattached the hardware and it was done!  It looks beautiful and I can't wait to slide it into the closet and fill it up with all my crafting tools!

Before and After

I will add photos of the finished product once we move in!  I may update the hardware as well.

I decided to leave the top alone because I wanted to make sure it stayed perfectly smooth for my crafts.

#MichiganHereWeCome and Other Craziness That Has Happened The Last 5 Months

Wow.  The past 5 months since I have written have been a whirlwind of craziness.  When I sat down to finally write this post I noticed there was a draft that had never been published.  It was titles #MichiganHereWeCome and had 1 paragraph written:

#MichiganHereWeCome has been used on my instagram page more times that I expected this summer.  To add to the chaos of getting married this summer, we made the jump and decided to move to Michigan.  I moved up about a week ago, and my hubby is soon to follow.  I definitely did not expect to be moving and living apart from my husband within our first two months of marriage.  It's been HARD.  But we try our best to make it work.  I am excited for him to be here hopefully tomorrow.

As I read this paragraph now I find it hard not to laugh at what I thought "chaos" was then.  And I am sure in a year from now I will read this post and say the same thing.  To catch up quickly on what has happened.  Tad moved up to Michigan for about 6 weeks.  The main reason we moved there was to be near family (a.k.a. my parents).  My parents also had recently moved from Ohio to Michigan.  6 weeks in Michigan proved to be too much for all of us.  My mom got homesick and missed her job and friends, my job had me driving more than working, Tad couldn't find a job, and my dad was never home.  Enough was enough and we called it quits.  My parents put their house on the market and Tad took the dogs to Saint Louis to start looking for a job.

Fast forward another 6 weeks and I am in Saint Louis too.  Tad and I both have jobs, I especially love mine.  Then a few short weeks later is Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years, and now its February 2nd and where has the time gone?

Now in just 1 short week we will finally be out of Tad's parents house and into our own little townhouse!  We put the security deposit down a month ago, and I have been non-stop crafting and cooking and decorating and organizing and planning ever since.

I have no idea where to start, so I guess I will start with tonights dinner and go back from there.

Since we are still staying with Tad's parents, coordinating dinners have been difficult.  Who is going to be home?  Who is cooking?  What do people like/dislike?  Are we eating out?  Since I still have my retail job there is usually a week night or two that I'm not home for dinner.  Tonight was no different.  Since I work at a school now I get off at 3:15 weekdays, so I like to try to make sure to have dinner ready by the time Tad gets home from work.  In my rush to figure out who was cooking dinner, and what to cook if I was cooking I found this simple recipe from Pinterest and it was so good!  There were only enough leftovers for me to take for lunch tomorrow and that's it!  And what's even better, its a one pot meal!  This recipe is from Damn Delicious and is pretty damn delicious. (The photo is hers too).  I have tried quite of few of Damn Delicious recipes and I have never been disappointed.  If you need a recipe, click on over to her blog, you won't be disappointed.

Lemon Butter Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Yield 8 servings

Easy crisp-tender chicken with the creamiest lemon butter sauce ever - you'll want to forget the chicken and drink the sauce instead!

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan 
• Juice of 1 lemon 
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
• Season chicken thighs with paprika, salt and pepper, to taste. 
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside. 
• Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon juice and thyme. 
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has wilted and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet. 
• Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes. 
• Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!